Now we are at the heart of the moral horrors that are to come.

During the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) two goats were employed during the principal ceremony. The first goat was slain and its blood sprinkled upon and before the Mercy Seat. The second goat was brought before the High Priest. The priest confessed the sins of Israel over the living goat and it was led away into the wilderness.

In eons past, before the world was created, there was a great rebellion against the Father. Sin entered the universe.

Sin must be dealt with in two ways. The guilt must be forgiven. Then the sin itself must be removed. Sin is not an abstraction. Sin always is connected with a personality. He who commits sin is of the devil.

The first goat was the goat of appeasement. The shedding of the innocent blood pointed toward the sacrifice of God's Son on the cross of Calvary. The atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross appeased the Father concerning the sin that had entered the creation, and the atoning blood was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in Heaven.

However, the removal of sin typified by the second goat has not occurred as yet. Christ is at the right hand of the Father waiting until His enemies are made His footstool.

Although the sanctuary in the heavens has been purified by the blood of Jesus, sin is still present—even in the heavens!

It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. (Hebrews 9:23,24)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

We who are striving to obey God's commandments are not struggling against flesh and blood but against the rebels in the heavens, the stars of God.

When a firstfruits of the Church finally overcomes Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and by loving not their life to the death, then Satan and the other rebellious "stars," whether angelic or human, will be thrown down to the earth.

His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. (Revelation 12:4)

We need to understand that everything shall be shaken, beginning in the heavens. The shaking shall go right up to the Throne of God. All that has not been established in Christ shall be cast from the Presence of God.

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (Hebrews 12:26-28)

To be continued.